How do the lives left behind when parents leave their country and culture impact their first generation children? Esther Amini's parents carried with them the fears, oppressions and traditions they left but also the grit and determination it took to create a new life. Confused as a child about what caused them to behave the way they did, Esther has spent a lifetime seeking to understand them and, ultimately, herself. In the process, she has come to admire them more deeply and also to feel the grief of what they struggled with. We will talk about her memoir and the impact on her of searching for her own identity even as she worked to maintain the family bonds that were vital to her.